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The Art of Politics

Thanks Monica

By Judy Osborne

Monica did us all a favor. No! Not that favor! You were feeling left out?

Everybody's sick of hearing about Monica Lewinsky, Ken Starr, and Bill Clinton's impeachment, so more people voted for Democrats than anyone anticipated. Religious right leaders overplayed their hand and lost some credibility. Maybe it's safe to hope for friendlier legislation.

Listen to the arrogance of some of the things those religious-right leaders told legislators before the election. All the way through the last session of Congress, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Gary Bauer, and other keepers of the faith pestered Republican lawmakers to enact laws that would do us harm. One can only speculate what was said behind closed doors, but the public record contains some astonishingly blunt statements.

Dobson, President of Focus On the Family (membership: 3.5 million, annual budget: $110 million, monthly publications reaching 3 million, 5 million weekly radio listeners), wrote a letter to Republican legislators and governors saying, "there is very little to show for the confidence placed in Republicans by the 43 percent of its constituency who gave them power in 1994. And the clock is ticking."

Robertson, Founder of the Christian Coalition, (membership: 1.9 million, annual budget: $17 million, 7 million weekly viewers of his "700 Club"), sent his troops out to tell all the Republicans in Congress, "Look, we put you in power in 1994, and we want you to deliver. We're tired of temporizing. Don't give us this stuff about you've got a different agenda. This is what we're going to do this year. And we're going to hold your feet to the fire while you do it."

Bauer, President of the Family Research Council (membership: 250,000, annual Budget: $10 million), added, "A great (Republican) party ought to stop looking at polls and find its voice for the people that have given it the power it's got." and "The party bureaucrats have thrown in the towel. They have given up!"

Bauer was outraged by the fact that social liberalism had not been stamped out during the prior three sessions of Congress. Robertson, when he wasn't calling down divine wrath on Orlando for allowing Disney World to hold its annual "Gay Days," was furious that the IRS and the Federal Election Commission were after his Christian Coalition for evading taxes. Dobson offered up a grab bag of society's ills which he and other Christian conservatives would like to fix by passing new laws. "I believe increasing numbers of Americans are fed up with the innovations of the liberal elite" he told Republican legislators and governors. "They're sick of the 'dumbing down' of education, attacks on people of faith, confiscatory taxes, assault on parental rights (Dobson still believes in physical punishment of children), crazy court decisions, condom advertisements for kids, outrageous waste in government, self-serving politicians, abortion, euthanasia, welfare giveaways, and more... I want to assure Speaker Gingrich and Senator Dole that those same citizens who dumped the Democrats are watching to see what will be done with these issues by the Republicans."

Dobson has a special place in his heart for transgendered people. Bear with me for a moment while I let him explain his thoughts.

Dobson sends a letter each month to several millions of his followers. In August of 1995 his topic of outrage was the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, about to be held in Beijing. Dobson called the conference a "gender feminism juggernaut" of "enormous hostility to the institution of the family" where "everything related to traditional male and female relationships is despised." Dobson discovered some gender and sexuality reference materials prepared for the conference which he found particularly offensive. He interpreted the materials in his own style for his readers:

"Of great significance to the framers of the conference is a concept known as 'gender feminism.' Please read carefully now, because this is the basis for the Beijing conference (Italics his). What is being proposed is a new way of looking at human sexuality. The notion that babies come into the world as male or female based on the size and shape of their genitalia is anathema. Sexual identification, they say, is something society imposes on children and then expects them to play out in their behavior ever after...

In other words, the only biological differences between men and women are relatively insignificant external features. Therefore, if we protect children from social and religious conditioning, people will be free to move into and out of existing genders and gender roles according to their preferences. Taking that concept to its illogical conclusion, the radicals want to dissolve the traditional roles of mother and father... The ultimate goal of those who drafted the document, although they try to hide it, is a plan to get rid of traditional sexuality in order to destroy patriarchy. Men can't have male privileges if we deny the existence of males and females. This political objective is called 'the deconstruction of gender.'

After maleness and femaleness have been disenfranchised, everything related to sex will change. All household responsibilities will be divided 50/50 by governmental decree. Every business will be governed by strict 50/50 quotas. The military will also be apportioned equally between men and women, including ground combat assignments and any future selection of draftees. There will be absolutely no differences tolerated between the sexes. In short, the distinction between masculinity and femininity will utterly disappear from the cultures of the world."

After offering some vaguely-related Bible quotes in opposition to these ideas, ideas which he interpreted as "utterly disdainful of the King of kings and the Lord of lords," Dobson went on to lament that "Homosexual and lesbian rights are central to the philosophy driving the conference."

Returning to his version of the deconstruction of gender, Dobson continued:

"When freed from traditional biases, a person can decide to be male, female, homosexual, lesbian, or transgendered. Some may want to try all five in time. Homosexuality is considered the moral equivalent of heterosexuality. For women, however, the preferred love relationship is lesbian in nature. In that way male oppressiveness can be negated. Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers."

Finally, Dobson summed up his reactions to these ideas:

Now, some of my readers might ask, 'So what? Why does it matter if a group of radical feminists assemble in faraway China to discuss their kooky ideas? What harm can they do?' The danger associated with the conference is linked to the unprecedented influence of the United States in world politics. Remember that 170 nations will be represented there. Imagine the damage that can be done around the globe if the credibility of this wonderful country, with all its resources and power, is used to undermine the family, promote abortion, teach immoral behavior to teenagers, incite anger and competition between men and women, advocate lesbian and homosexual behavior, and vilify those with sincere religious faith. This is Satan's trump card if I have ever seen it."

Dobson concluded by exhorting his followers to pray, contact their representatives in Congress, call their radio talk shows and local newspapers, remember that Bill and Hillary Clinton made this happen, and send money.

Dobson, Robertson, Bauer, and other Christian right gurus had the credibility to back up their harsh words to legislators until this month's election. Pollsters long ago revealed that Christian conservative votes put Republicans over the top in many districts during the 1994 and 1996 elections. Dobson threatened to sponsor a horde of independent Christian conservative candidates in districts across the country this year, but that turned out to be an empty threat.

Fearful of alienating moderate Republicans, Republican leaders have tiptoed down a political tightrope all year, trying to retain the conglomeration of moderate, fiscally conservative, and religious conservative voters who put them into power in 1994 and kept them there in 1996. They tested the water with a trickle of statements and legislation offering some satisfaction to the Christian right leaders, while trying not to appear too socially strident for moderate and fiscally conservative members of the party. With an eye out for adverse reactions from his constituencies, Senate Majority leader Trent Lott told the public that "gay men and lesbians should be assisted in overcoming the sin of homosexuality... just like alcoholism... or sex addiction... or kleptomania,"

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who previously called openly-gay Congressman Barney Frank, "Barney Fag," agreed with Lott, piping up "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind shall inherit the Kingdom of God." Newt Gingrich crammed the Religious Freedom Amendment (which is the opposite) through the House of Representatives just so Dobson could find out who was brave enough to vote against it.

Isn't it nice we won't have to hear this stuff so much for a while? Thanks, Monica.

Your comments, in support or in disagreement, will be gratefully received -- heyjude@eskimo.com

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